North, South Korea Agree to Hold Family Reunions

North and South Korea have agreed to resume the reunions of families separated by the 1950s Korean War.

South Korea's Unification Ministry says the deal was reached Wednesday during a meeting at the Panmunjom border village.

It said the reunions will take place from February 20-25 at the Mount Kumgang resort on North Korea's east coast.

The meetings have temporarily reunited about 18,000 Koreans over the past decade, but have not been held in over three years.

Both sides also agreed last year to resume the reunions, but Pyongyang backed out at the last minute, citing what it said was hostility by Seoul.

Lee Duk-haeng, South Korea's head delegate at the talks, said the North has insisted it is intent on holding the reunions this time.

"Regarding the fact that the agreement last year had not been fulfilled, we have delivered a message of our stance, that it should not happen again, and the North side has agreed on this."

Many fear upcoming U.S.-South Korean military drills, set to begin at the same time as the reunions, could provide Pyongyang another opportunity to back out.

North Korea views the annual joint military exercises as preparation to invade, and has warned Washington and Seoul to call them off.

The U.S. and South Korea say the drills are defensive, and will go on as planned.

North Korea also has tried to link the family reunion issue to the resumption of South Korean tours to Mount Kumgang. Seoul suspended the visits in 2008 following the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist in the area.

The impoverished North is anxious to open the scenic resort because it is a valuable source of cash. But South Korea insists the issue be handled separately from the family reunion debate.

Tensions regularly flare up between the two Koreas, which remain in a technical state of war, since the 1953 agreement that ended hostilities between them was only a truce.